Egypt

• Soldiers and military police have fired live ammunition and teargas at protesters outside the defence ministry in Abbasiya ,in Cairo, where 11 people were killed in clashes on Wednesday. Protesters exchanged volleys of rocks with security forces, before teargas was deployed and shots fired. The ministry of health reportedly said that 59 people had been injured. The Observer's Peter Beaumont witnessed people being taken away with head injuries and passed out from teargas.

Syria

• The Local Coordination Committees activist group said 37 people have been killed in Syria today, as people demonstrated across the country, many of them in support of the students attacked at Aleppo university on Wednesday night. An Aleppo-based activist told AP said protests in the city, relatively untouched by unrest until recently, were the largest it has seen since the start of the uprising. Mohammed Saeed said a 16-year-old was shot dead and around 30 wounded in Aleppo today after security forces opened fire. Activists' reports cannot be independently verified by the Guardian.

• The LCC said seven people have been killed in the al-Tadamun neighbourhood of Damascus. A video purportedly filmed in the neighbourhood showed a man being carried away after he fell to the ground when security forces fired at protesters throwing stones. It is unclear what his fate was.

• Syrian forces are executing scores of suspected opposition sympathisers in the northern city of Idlib, often burning their bodies in piles or torching them in their homes then sending family members to find them, witnesses have told Amnesty International (see 12.26pm).

Libya

• The National Transitional Council has granted immunity to all those who fought to overthrow the Gaddafi regime – a move which is likely to displease the International Criminal Court, since rights groups say war crimes were committed by both sides during last year's conflict (see 10.06am).

Bahrain

• Following a speech by King Hamad hailing the "blossoming" of media freedom in Bahrain, it emerged that the kingdom has blocked a visit from an international freedom-of-expression delegation (see 9.16am).

4.49pm:Egypt: The April 6 youth movement said it is withdrawing from Abbasiya "to prevent further bloodshed" and asked all other protesters to leave as well, Ahram online reports, but still clashes have continued:

March got attacked by some guys on a bridge crossing at Ghamra, think it was just flares, nothing serious but stones being exchanged

4.11pm:Egypt: Another update from Peter Beaumont in Abbasiya, outside the defence ministry, in Cairo.

Photo: AP/Richard Lewis

I have moved from the street to a concrete walkway where I can see the entrance to the ministry of defence. Military police with riot shields are exchanging volley of rocks with protesters at the front. I had to move from the street I was on previously because the military police pushed forward, pushing people back, firing quite a lot of gas. I saw an unconcious teenager being taken away on a motorbike, one guy being carried away on someone's shoulder.

The gas that is being fired is the gas that has been used a lot in Egypt, it seems to be very strong content. Even at a distance I can really feel the gas. I am just watching gas being fired at the demonstration behind me.

There are reports of shots being fired but I haven't heard any myself.

4.05pm:Syria: A teenager has been killed after security forces opened fire in Aleppo, according to activists. From AP:

An Aleppo-based activist said the protests were the largest the city has seen since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad in March 2011."The people are incensed by what happened at the university," said the activist, Mohammed Saeed. "Everyone wants to express solidarity with those students."

Saeed said security forces were out in full force, firing live ammunition to disperse protesters and arresting people randomly. "With our blood, we sacrifice for you students!" people shouted ...

During Friday's protests, security forces killed a 16-year-old youth in the Salaheddine district of Aleppo and wounded around 30, Saeed said. Scores of others were arrested, he said. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists on the ground in Syria, confirmed that a teenager was gunned down.

3.59pm:Egypt: Here is the latest from AP on the violence outside the defence ministry:

The clashes erupted when protesters in Abbasiya tried to cut through barbed wire between them and troops blocking access to the ministry. Live footage on state television showed troops snatching one protester, beating him with metal sticks, tearing his clothes and leaving his back bloody.

The troops fired water cannons at protesters and hurled stones at them to keep them from advancing. The protesters took shelter behind metal sheets snatched from a nearby construction site and hurled back stones. Others climbed the roof of a nearby university and showered soldiers with rocks from above. The troops then opened up with heavy volleys of tear gas that pushed the demonstrators back.

I have just been talking to a protester, Hashim Abdul Rahman. He told me it was peaceful this morning but after Friday prayers he says their ranks were infiltrated by criminal who started throwing stones at the army in provocation.

I have seen two or three gas cannisters thrown. There are quite a lot of injuries, people with bandaged heads or injuries to their arms. Ambulances are going to and from the frontline.

I am just watching a casualty being taken away in an ambulance now. He's being carried by six people. I can't see what his injuries are but most people have injuries to their heads or arms or are suffering from gas inhalation.

I'm reluctant to get any closer because projectiles are flying through the air and I haven't got any head protection. People are wearing helmets, it's like a building site. I would estimate the number of people here at three to four thousand.

3.42pm:Egypt: Teargas has been fired at protesters at Abbasiya, which means that the central security forces (CSF) - Egypt's riot police - are now assisting the army, according to some Tweeters.

It says seven people have been killed in the al-Tadamun neighbourhood of Damascus. This video, purportedly filmed in the neighbourhood today shows security forces firing as protesters throw stones. A protesters falls to the ground and is carried off. It is unclear what his fate was.

A remarkable video shows a demonstration taking place in al-Houla, Homs, today as shells drop in the background.

2.35pm:Egypt: Saudi Arabia's ambassador will return to Cairo next week, Reuters reports, citing a Saudi official. The ambassador was withdrawn almost a week ago in response to street protests in Cairo against the arrest of an Egyptian lawyer in the Gulf kingdom.

1.52pm:Syria: This week's deadly raid on Aleppo university could mark a turning point for the city, Rami Abdelrahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.

There have been a number of demonstrations in Aleppo today, according to activists. The Local Coordination Committees reports protests in the neighbourhoods of Hamdanieh, Haretan, Tareeq Halab, Ferdaws, Tal Refaat, Ashrafieh, Tafad and Sheaar.

While there had been a number of clashes between security forces and students at the university before Wednesday's assault, the city itself (the second largest in Syria) had seen relatively little unrest and was considered an Assad stronghold along with Damascus.

Syria

• Demonstrations have been taking place in Syria, many of them in support of students at Aleppo university (which has now been closed following a raid by security forces in which at least four students were reportedly killed).

• Syrian forces are executing scores of suspected opposition sympathisers in the northern city of Idlib, often burning their bodies in piles or torching them in their homes then sending family members to find them, witnesses have told Amnesty International (see 12.26pm).

Libya

• The National Transitional Council has granted immunity to all those who fought to overthrow the Gaddafi regime – a move which is likely to displease the International Criminal Court, since rights groups say war crimes were committed by both sides during last year's conflict (see 10.06am).

Bahrain

• Following a speech by King Hamad hailing the "blossoming" of media freedom in Bahrain, it emerged that the kingdom has blocked a visit from an international freedom-of-expression delegation (see 9.16am).

12.26pm:Syria: Syrian forces are executing scores of suspected opposition sympathisers in the northern city of Idlib, often burning their bodies in piles or torching them in their homes then sending family members to find them, witnesses have told Amnesty International.

The Amnesty report, prepared by the senior crisis adviser Donatella Rovera, says hundreds of homes in some villages have been burned down and their populations terrorised by forces who kill with impunity.

In the village of Taftanaz, two 80-year-old men were reportedly killed in their homes, which were then burned around them. Tthe wife of one of the men told Amnesty:

I had been staying with relatives across the street and my husband was at home. When I went back home I found it burned down but did not find my husband. I went out and asked the soldiers outside where they had taken him. I thought they had arrested him. A soldier replied: 'Go back in and look for him'. I went back and found his remains in a pile of ash.

The Amnesty report on Idlib follows one by Human Rights Watch on Wednesday in which it said Syrian government forces killed at least 95 civilians and burned or destroyed hundreds of houses during a two-week offensive in Idlib shortly before the ceasefire.

12.12pm:Syria: The now-traditional Friday protests are breaking out across the country, according to the Local Coordination Committees activist group.

12.02pm:Egypt: Our reporter, Peter Beaumont, who covered the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak, is in Tahrir Square today. He says:

It's very different to the feeling in the square in the early days of the revolution. The demonstration today feels largely like a Muslim Brotherhood event, lots of green Muslim Brotherhood caps and flags.

All of the people I've spoken to are Muslim Brotherhood, saying they're demonstrating against the deaths in Abbasiya but they are also worried that Scaf (the Supreme Council of Armed Forces) will not hand over power. Some people have come 250km, having been bussed in by the Muslim Brotherhood, another person I spoke to has come 180km.

It feels different [from the demonstrations against Mubarak], much more disciplined, less intense and crazy. People have just started arriving.

At least three stages have been set up [in Tahrir Square], where a mostly Islamist crowd plans to demonstrate, according to Egypt's state-run Nile TV.

Many are supporters of Islamist candidate Hazem Abu Ismael, who is among a number of candidates disqualified from standing in the May 23 presidential election.

Meanwhile, a mostly liberal crowd, including supporters of the April 6 movement, is expected to go to Abaseya Square. Marches will move from mosques toward the defense ministry, where the sit-in protest began last Friday.

The April 6 movement wants accountability from the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces over the deaths of protesters in the Abaseya clashes.

The ministry of health has dispatched 70 ambulances to the Abaseya protests, dubbed the "Final Friday" march and the Arab Doctor's Association has set up two makeshift clinics.

Among those "spearheading" the demonstrations is "none other than Muhammad al-Zawahiri, the elder brother of al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, and a seasoned terrorist in his own right," it says.

According to Youm 7, Zawahiri appeared yesterday "at the head of hundreds of protesters," including "dozens of jihadis," demonstrating in front of Egypt's Military Council near Cairo. They waved banners that read, "We are a people who do not give in—Victory or Death!," chanted "Jihad! Jihad! The [Military] Council must leave," all punctuated with cries of Islam's primordial war-cry, "Allahu Akbar!"

10.52am:Syria: The state news agency Sana reports that the head of the UN observer mission, Maj Gen Robert Mood, has been in Lattakia, on the north-west coast of Syria, today and has described the city as "calm".

Mood told the journalists that the situation in Lattakia now is calm and there are no dramatic challenges, describing it as a very beautiful and hospitable city which he has been recommended to visit.

He pointed out that after completing his tour of Lattakia, he will go back to Damascus to continue building the observer team.

10.50am:Egypt: The mass protest Cairo is due to get under way shortly. Our reporter Peter Beaumont is there and will be sending updates. The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party has called for a million people to take part:

10.32am:Syria: The peace plan brokered by international mediator Kofi Annan is on track despite numerous reports of violations of the ceasefire, the former UN secretary-general's spokesman said today. Ahmad Fawzi suggested more patience was needed. He is quoted by Reuters as saying:

I would say that the Annan plan is on track and a crisis that has been going on for over a year is not going to be resolved in a day or a week. There are signs on the ground of movement (towards compliance with the plan), albeit slow and small.

Fawzi said there will be "around 50 observers" on the ground by the end of today. He added that that the UN so far has obtained commitments from nations for 150 of the 300 observers that the UN security council authorised, suggesting it is still struggling to make up the numbers.

The Local Coordination Committees activist group claims 10 people have been killed by the security forces already today, three in Aleppo, two each in Deir Ezzor, Homs and Hama and one in Deraa. The Guardian cannot independently verify the LCC's reports.

A team of British spies from UK's foreign spying apparatus MI6 are in Egypt to run the election campaign of Amr Moussa, who's affiliated to western and US governments, a report said.

After several reports and close observations of the secrecy surrounding Amr Moussa's election campaign, a reporter working for the Islam Times in Cairo confirmed that there are a team of British intelligence officers that are running Moussa's presidential campaign.

The sources also confirmed that Britain has agreed with Amr Moussa to train a squad of its secret intelligence agents to work in Egypt through British ambassador to Cairo "James Watt".

10.18am:Kuwait: Security forces have arrested at least 16 stateless residents of Kuwait, known as Bidun, during a peaceful demonstration in support of their rights to nationality, Human Rights Watch says.

Masked officers used batons and armoured vehicles to disperse and arrest the protesters last Tuesday, participants and Kuwaiti activists told Human Rights Watch. Some 200-300 Bidun had gathered near al-Sha'bi mosque in Taima'a to demand government action on their citizenship claims and resolution of their stateless status.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said:

The Bidun have a right like anyone else to peaceful protest, which the Kuwaiti authorities are obligated to respect. The government needs to realise that suppressing peaceful demonstrations isn't going to make Bidun grievances go away.

10.06am:Libya: The National Transitional Council has granted immunity to all those who fought to overthrow the Gaddafi regime. A statement posted on the NYC's website said:

"There is no punishment for acts made necessary by the February 17 revolution."

It added that the immunity covers "military, security or civilian acts undertaken by revolutionaries with the aim of ensuring the revolution's success".

The move is likely to exacerbate tensions between the NTC and the International Criminal Court, since rights groups say war crimes were committed by both sides during last year's conflict.

In a statement, the SNC, an umbrella opposition organisation based outside the country, urged the strike "in solidarity with students at Aleppo University."

Three people are said to still be in a critical condition after the assault on the university on Wednesday night.

9.39am:Egypt: Cairo is braced for mass protests today after the Muslim Brotherhood called for a "million-person" march. Al-Jazeera reports:

Friday's protest comes amid heightened tension after 11 people were killed in clashes that broke out on Wednesday when unidentified group attacked protesters staging a sit-in outside the ministry of defence in Cairo.

"I'm telling the military council … enough bloodshed, enough fabricated crisis, enough unleashing of thugs on the public, enough destruction … we want them to transfer power to an independent transitional authority tomorrow," Akrami Darwish, a protester, said on Friday.

The protest is expected to draw people from all major political formations in Egypt, namely Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafist movement and the liberal activist movements.

9.36am:Syria: Despite remarks from the head of the UN observers, Maj Gen Robert Mood, that there is "a good chance and an opportunity" to break the cycle of violence in Syria, the White House is not convinced and says the international community should be ready to consider other unspecified measures. White House press secretary Jay Carney said:

If the regime's intransigence continues, the international community is going to have to admit defeat ... It is clear and we will not deny that the plan has not been succeeding thus far.

Carney aid that if the Syrian regime keeps flouting the ceasefire, the US and other nations should try other measures to pressure Assad. He said that would include a return to the UN security council, which approved an observer mission in Syria last month, and other attempts to marshal international pressure. He did not say what that might entail.

9.16am:Bahrain: The British entertainment listings magazine, Radio Times, has unexpectedly become caught up in Bahrain's politics. Its website published an online poll, asking readers which current affairs documentary should win this year's Bafta awards.

The four nominees include one from al-Jazeera English, Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark, which is critical of the regime. Supporters of the regime had other ideas about which programme should win, and urged readers to vote for a Channel 4 documentary about Sri Lanka instead.

For several days, thousands of Arabic language tweets - at peak hours several tweets a second - have been pouring out of Bahrain and the Gulf in a steady stream, many of them filled with religious epithets and hate speech.

Around half of them call on Arabs to "vote for Sri Lanka [the subject of a fellow nominee in our category] and prevent Shi'a infidels from defaming Bahrain," to "vote 100 times, we have to break the heads of the traitorous bastards and of Al Jazeera the agent," and "complete this vote for Sri Lanka so Al Jazeera loses and we give her a lesson she'll never forget."

The result has been an unprecedented voting frenzy. This morning, al-Jazeera is marginally ahead with 373,000 votes, while Channel 4 has 338,000. The other two nominated programmes have have a mere 1,300 votes each.

Online voting will make no difference to the eventual result, since the winner will be decided by a panel of judges.

8.52am: Good morning. Welcome to Middle East Live. During the day we shall be monitoring unrest in Syria, Egypt, Bahrain and other parts of the region. Here is a summary of the latest developments.

Syria

• At least four students were killed after security services stormed dormitories at Aleppo University, activists and opposition groups said. Dozens more were injured and scores arrested, according to the reports. The university announced that it was suspending classes until exam finals on 13 May.

• Government forces must make the first move to end the bloodshed in Syria, Major General Robert Mood, head of the UN mission, said yesterday. "If you have two individuals using on each other all their weapons, who is going to be the first one to move the finger? Who is going to be the first one to make the move? My approach to that is that the strongest party needs to make the first move."

Egypt

• The ruling military council insists it will hand over power to civilian rule by the end of June, following the presidential election. At a press conference, senior generals defended their record since the overthrow of President Mubarak last year and denied any involvement in the deaths of up to 20 protesters killed in violent clashes outside the defence ministry on Wednesday. The Muslim Brotherhood has said it holds the military largely responsible for the deaths.

Bahrain

• Following a speech by King Hamad hailing the "blossoming" of media freedom in Bahrain, it emerged that the kingdom has blocked a visit from an international freedom-of-expression delegation. Permission for the visit – by representatives from Freedom House, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, Index on Censorship, PEN International, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders had been granted on April 11. Less than a week before the delegation was due to arrive, permission has now been revoked. The groups involved say the move reflects an "unwillingness to engage in serious dialogue on issues of human rights and freedom of expression".